Matte/Shadow Material

[Elmer]

Hey, I've discovered this matte/shadow material, and yes, I do realize that I'm a bit late on discovering this. However, I am amazed at what it can do. But there must be an easier way to do what it does. I don't really want to model everything in the scene. Is it possible for me to make a map in photoshop or photopaint and then apply it somewhere in max so it does the same thing with out all of the modelling of the scene?

[Mr. Bluesummers-3DT]

Quick reply
Hmm...Umm...Well...Gee I guess it sounds possible. You could always create an opacity map in photoshop by outlining all the objects in your background image and creating a B&W map out of that. But it'd be a massive pain getting the new opacity-mapped matte/shadow object perfectly lined up with your background...

Sorry, there aren't too many smart workarounds in this area.

[Elmer]

Thanks anyways, I just wanted to see if there was an easier way. By the way, have you worked with the matte/shadow, and have you been able to come up with reflections that fade? I mean, I have an object, let's say a sphere, and it reflects perfectly. But the other objects in the picture reflect a bit, but then fade to nothing, kind of like a gradient reflection. Do you know how to do that?

[Mr. Bluesummers-3DT]

Quick Reply
I think Matte/shadow has a reflection option inherent in the material. You can choose a map also, which you can use to place a 'raytrace' map. That way, you can enable the "falloff" options in the raytrace map to set how far the dimmest reflection will be. That should give you that gradient reflection effect. =)

Good luck,